Workday-- 6:30pm ending before dark; started at 11am with a crew of four helpers. (30 man-hours on top of my time to prep, plan, purchase, work, coordinate/teach, and clean up.)

The 2 trickiest jobs on my wishlist were done well, to completion. The rebuilt HVAC-enclosure wall is especially lovely, and involved a lot of thought and tricks-- but looks just like it was always just the way we did it.

Several other jobs were not completed fully, but were started in such fashion that I can finish them with Tyler's help Tuesday. Others I can finish on my own-- in both cases, the helpers did the parts I can't possibly do. And brought me a Coke when I badly needed it.

One of the best parts was teaching my awkward-age nephew how to use a cordless drill/driver, work smart, use a framing square, and lay out a project. He is a certifiable genius-- super-quick processing-- but SO bored and awkward, and also at the age of not wanting to know a thing his ma and pa try to teach him. I finally got to that magic smile with him, that'd vanished of late under too much AP schoolwork, and far too many structured afterschool programs. He got very handy with that little tool, relaxed, and gained confidence-- good for him!

Not much going on in Stratford, now that the ground floor is just about finished (only the kitchen tile to go, and that is scheduled). My lung complaint is gradually ebbing, currently down to occasional coughing fits that still sound awful but don't leave me reeling with exhaustion as they did two weeks ago.

I went back to the gym on Friday for a full workout, and boy did I feel it on Saturday. Every muscle in my legs, butt and back had criticism to offer, which tells me that I need to do that workout again today, and on Wednesday, and on Friday, too.

Himself is looking particularly fine these days, after almost four months of watching his diet and working out vigorously. He's lost almost 25 pounds and is back into his snazziest suits; the new one he bought last summer now hangs on him like a tent. The gym staff are so impressed with him that they just about offered him a job, on the theory that if the flabby old guys see an fit old guy behind the counter, they might be a little less reluctant to sign up.

I'm looking a bit gaunt, myself, having lost my jowls and a full size in trousers to the pneumonia. I thought I had come to terms with advancing age, but it's still always a bit of a shock to look at myself in the mirror and see the same lines on my face that I remember on my granny.

Charmion, it sounds like himself also took advantage of the extra work involved in moving. I always lose weight when I pack and move for hours at a time for days at a time. Right now I've gone back to alternate day fasting, managing two or three days a week. I got the idea from Dr. Mosley's Eat, Fast and Live Longer program that originally broadcast on a BBC science series. It comes and goes on the Internet, but it looks like BBC has a YouTube channel now. He tries several different forms of fasting; the one I adopted shows up about 38 minutes into the program. (It's also on a Spanish language Vimeo channel, in English with a less distracting background.)

Thanks for the note, Dorothy. That is an interesting outcome after sitting on that property for a long time.

Actually, Acme, the move left both of us fatter than we had been in years. After so long in Ottawa, and with all the shenanigans surrounding release from the Army after 30 years of service, we were wined and dined a great deal during the spring and early summer of last year, to the extent that it seemed we were in one fancy restaurant or another pretty well every weekend for about two months. Then the move itself put us in hotels for almost two weeks in high summer, and eating all our meals in restaurants and diners. We both got seriously chubby.

When we finally finished unpacking the books (a job that took ages), Himself looked at me seriously across the dinner table and said, "We have completed the task of Moving To Stratford. It is now time to start Living In Stratford." Within a couple of days, he had entered into a contract with a personal trainer at the gym and joined the local hiking club. Then he downloaded MyNetDiary, a diet-tracking application, onto his phone and started weighing and measuring his food. He said it made counting calories into a video game.

Neither of us is any good at fasting. Himself gets grumpy and impossible to live with when his low-food light is flashing, and I find that I really must eat when my stomach starts rumbling. I don't have to eat much, mind you, and it's important that I wait until I actually feel hunger, but if I don't eat when those signals start arriving I am likely to gorge when I finally let myself eat at all.

With the kitchen renovation project and the redecoration of the rest of the house to manage, I do not really feel that the Moving To Stratford phase is quite finished, at least not for me. In fact, just the other day I found yet another box with movers' tape on it, cracked it open, and decided that its entire contents could go to the Sally Ann. I won't really settle until the bedrooms are patched and painted, and I've put up curtains in the upstairs windows.

It's another unseasonably beautiful day in Perth County, sunny and warm, so I have decided to jettison my original plan for extensive housework in favour of a nice walk downtown to mail my brother's birthday present. Yesterday's workout did not leave me with the stiff legs I suffered on Saturday, so my body has evidently decided to forgive me and get with the program.

It turned out that both helpers planned for today bailed at the last minute, and the weather was too warm and sunny to waste, so I finished the patio door project, as well as I could on my own. I was not able to totally secure the lower edge with bolts, but I was able to screw thru the front plate into the back plate with extra long exterior grade screws which, unfortunately, were a tad long for the width of the door and will have to be nipped off.

Unfortunately they also were to have loaded a chair into my car after first unloading the full hatch area; I need it for a pain-free weekend workshop Friday-Saturday because I did not bring my walker-seat which is perfectly set up for 90° joints.

Since I now can't walk at all after that door project, I'm not excited about attempting the chair move on my own. It may just fit in DIL's open trunk and the workshop is right here in town. If I don't take it, my back will be fried after the first hour. :-(

Beaver: Energy level kind of hit the wall today. Hope it renews! Two bisque firings complete and two to go ---- I looked in the glaze bucket and OOPS - need more. I have the materials but the scales I have are iffy and I do not have the required sieve. It's at the mill. Considering possible solutions... Trimmed more pots today - threw yesterday - and hope they will dry fast enough to get into the last bisque load. House is de-cluttered of pots!

I did a wonderful job of restraining myself from buying some epiphytes tonight but passed on to the presenter (at the horticultural Soc) my copper tubing plant support idea. Copper kills epiphytes but the dipladenia is doing great in its "cage". I am down to one geranium - about to bloom!, two neophyte spider plants, one af violet and my new rosemary and aloe vera - all doing well. I do tend to be a plant-aholic!

Trying Keto diet again. All lost is regained; I alternately give up and try again. Spring is giving me hope but there is still a lot of snow out there.

I came home from a lunch meeting during brief break in the huge all-morning downpour-- "Aha! Load that chair NOW!" I immediately changed into grubs, unloaded the dog crate and suitcase from the hatch, and had the car in front where the chair was for my workshop-- just in time for middle schoolers coming off the bus. In 3's, there is ALWAYS one raised right who responds if I yell, "Hey, could one of you guys give me a quick hand?" One will always gallop over to do a lift and be invited to leave his number for paid work.

So I was able to park the wet faux wicker lawn chair to dry out in the car, in the garage,

The time has come, I think, for the new fence next door that will be between our properties but will actually follow the property line (my request - the current fence is about 18" inside my property line because the previous owner was a bit of an idiot when it came to cooperating with neighbors and put it up willy-nilly in a hurry.) It means the old fence is up to me to take apart (my request) because I have a heavy-duty wire stapled to the base that is part of my dog containment system (it carries a radio signal that their collars respond to if they get too close). I also have to possibly make a connection between my old fence and their new fence at the street facing narrow end or we could end up with an odd gap.

The last week was mostly heavy rain but it's forecast to dry for a few days. Today should be nice and though the ground is soggy there is yardwork to be done. A wedding and houseguest this weekend mean it was prudent to take a couple of days off to get the usual weekend stuff done ahead of time and have the house looking good. I need to take my gas trimmer over to the repair shop and have the pull cord fixed (the handle broke and the cord pulled inside the machine). Gotta beat the regular spring crowd.

My eBay listings are up and running and I'm adding more regularly now. It still seems the best way to declutter and get a little extra income at the same time.

We are having an unexpected family day at home due to the snow storm. Pete made a wonderful breakfast, Jeremiah is cleaning his room and I am soon going to tuck away into my sewing room in hopes of completing a quilt top for the House of Care this weekend. It is a signature quilt and over 70 cancer survivors have signed different blocks. There are still at least 70+ open blocks to be signed. My hope is that the quilt top will be at Geisinger by the end of the week and then folks at the House of Care and people at the clinic will be able to sign the remaining open blocks. It was offered as a gift of love and thankfulness for my time at the House of Care but the higher ups want the quilt on a given date and are breathing down my neck about it so now it feels more like a chore. I overestimated my available time and energy when calculating the due date. I work 60+ hours a week, drive 30 to 45 minutes each way to work (unless it's snowing and then it's longer), take care of my family, take care of our home, grocery shop, cook, take Jeremiah to soccer, swimming and guitar lessons and then church on Sundays sometimes if the weather is good and I'm not completely wiped out...and the quilt. I don't think I will ever commit to creating something handmade for anyone ever again. I will simply make something and share it when it is complete. *whew* I will spend a few quiet moments handling each block and reading each signature/quote focusing on that to bring me back to my original heartfelt wish to make something out of love for people who are so very deserving.

So.....my hope is that by tomorrow, my sewing room will be decluttered of one more quilt top. :)

That's a wonderful project, Michelle. They're lucky to have someone with your passion and experience working on this on their behalf. An idea occurs to me, but I'll wait and look for your report about handing over the quilt to see if I was correct.

As I started on my eBay work I realized I needed more clear desk space, so have spent time filing, shredding, and recycling paper. I can see some of the wood on the second desk in my office. A few more eBay items have moved into the sunroom, and I'm also finding more donate items.

I'm setting up the dining table for a sewing project. I have to spread out the cutting board to place a pattern on fabric, and have enlisted my son's girlfriend to remind him again to send me measurements I should have gotten last time he was home for a visit.

I drove about two hours this morning - to fetch my fav yogurt from the next town, where an independent grocery is willing and able to special order. A flat of 6 was supposed to come on Tues but it did not arrive and Jeff did not call me and Amanda has been feeling badly for two days that she had not had time to fetch it for me (she lives there). SO: Jeff will phone whether or not it comes on Tues. I will have the smarts to check before I leave. I will not ask the overbooked Amanda to fetch it. I am muddling through the weekend with 6%.

So, any throwing for today is cancelled. I unloaded and re-loaded the kiln. Looks good! But did not do any of the lots more tasks that could be done. The tiny kiln room is still crowded but less so.

I need to check the local Gallery for what pots I have there as next week I could take in a few more.

No rain. No snow. YET. I feel the impending rain that is taking its time. Time for me to relax and recuperate.

My gas engine string trimmer is now in the shop. Last fall I was working on it, I swapped out the silicone bulb to prime it and changed the fuel lines, and on my first attempt to start it, the starter cord plastic handle broke off and the whole cord pulled completely into the engine. The YouTube video shows a guy dismantling the trimmer and fixing the cord in about 15 minutes, meaning I might finish in 2 hours and have parts left over.

I have "a guy who does" who I took it to this afternoon and he said it takes him about 45 minutes to do the job. That'll work. And when he depressed the bulb he said the resulting clicking sound says there is a diaphragm that might be dried out. Okay. $6 for that item, $23 for a new carburetor if needed. We're still looking at a repair that keeps it well under the cost of buying a new one like this. There is a kind of depressing pile of dead trimmers on the side of his building, but this one isn't destined for that heap yet. I trust this guy to do the job right. Why? Because the first time I took this trimmer over he said he didn't have time to get to it for weeks, but I could do it on my own. He sold me $2.00 worth of tubing and told me how to do the repair myself.

This, then, is my way of not having to declutter myself of a defunct trimmer after buying a new one. I prefer to keep this tool in service.

In other activity, I've set up another station in the house for playing audio books from my phone. Goodwill and other thrift stores have discarded iPod docking stations that have auxiliary plugs, so they can be used to play from any device. In the kitchen I have one that is bluetooth (no port needed), and now one in my office that I can use with a cable or with my spare bluetooth receiver. I'm using GoodReads.com to keep track of books, mostly audio books, and the last one I read was 600 pages (equivalent to two typical books) so I'm pushing to catch up to my goal of 24 books this year.

Young Tyler has renewed thoughts about a temporary house-guesting arrangement! I'm excited, because I was just thinking how I had not set up garden care while I head back at the end of the wknd for furniture.

Well, I did not reach my goal. I put in over 16 hours on it but it still likely needs another good 8 hours or so. I was going to work on it more today but my eyes were burning, likely from small fabric dust particles. Pete said it was enough. I ended up taking a 4 hour nap. I had no idea I was that tired. I slept so hard that I was disoriented when I woke up. I guess those *higher ups* are just going to have to wait. *shrug*

I did clean out 4 drawers of a desk that was my Nana's and sits in my living room. Two of those drawers were full of crafty this and that. No more! All crafty things have been relocated to the sewing room which is really where they belong anyway. I paid all the bills today and sorted through various paperwork and am now using those two drawers for highly organized bills/medical/school papers. It clears out a bin that I have had out for paperwork for years which means there is another surface that has been cleaned off. :) I made homemade muffins today too. It's been a lovely day.

I decided it was time to empty the bins arranged by garment size in my closet. The smallest size is 8, but it'll be a while till I can fit into size 8 again - the stuff in there is really nice and I'll be sorry not to have the garments if I do reach that point, but anyway - that little "what about eBay?" question crossed my mind as I was preparing to bag them for the Goodwill. Someone else in the same situation I was in, with a modest budget but needing serviceable and attractive pants and slacks to wear to work, including some gorgeous black jeans, linen pants, wool pants, gabardine khakis, and more, will have an opportunity to bid for the lot on eBay. If it doesn't sell, then they can go to Goodwill.

A care package was dispatched to my son; he's getting to be a good cook but from his standpoint it's still nice to have your favorite banana bread shipped in time for your birthday. Soon it will be too warm to ship such delicacies from my location; the hot weather that the parcel travels through causes it to mold pretty quickly.

Making progress around here as I've continued to file, shred, and put things away. Spring must be near!

So, on Sat am, the kiln had not turned off so I did it for it! After it cooled enough, I determined that the kiln was dysfunctional and, with two firings to go and the deadline closing in, I packed the car with all the pots, complete and various stages of incomplete and drove to the mill where the kiln would work - hopefully. I will prob be able to fix the kiln later when not under pressure of deadline.

In the meantime, I have all but one bowl (of 8) and the 8 plates are complete and lovely! Another firing went in the aft and I will go back in am to the mill to open the kiln and do one more firing of misc pots that are still to be fired.

My west coast (Whidbey) son and wife will be driving up from NYC, after the 10th, with GD Sarah from San Diego to visit and pick up pots - a chance for son to show wife and daughter his old haunts in Montreal. They will get an airbnb! And lots of pots!

Hoping R will have a bit of time while I am here to look at a couple more houses. We are each looking forward to the move; I have some trepidation as I wonder how much of his Stuff will become clutter!! I think we will need a house with a garage - just for his stuff! I came in tonight to find a seriously Ugly sofa in the LR. NO! IT does not deserve house space. I hope it is en route to somewhere else!

The Brother and his wife are coming for Easter, and bringing with them a box of Bohemian crystal wine glasses that belonged to my Dad. Sigh. I thought I had successfully parted with them, but no; I had merely kicked the can down the road a few months. Consequently, I must re-think the contents of the china cabinet and decide what I really, really want to keep and what I'm willing to let go, and then persuade Himself to agree with my conclusions.

The kitchen tiling is almost finished; only the four square feet of backsplash in the pantry remains to be grouted, and then the entire kitchen project will be finished. Oh, except for the kick panel under the cabinets on the sink side of the galley, where the tiles were broken and had to be replaced. Oh, and putting a bevel on the hinge side of the china cabinet doors so they don't have to be opened to their fullest extent before the drawers can be pulled out. Come to think of it, is such a project ever quite entirely finished?

Dorothy, I sympathize with your grim thoughts of what might become clutter in your next abode. Our neighbour Neil, who walks his dog for hours a day around the neighbourhood, informed us that our two-car garage might be the only one on our street that actually contains two cars. The furniture restorer who repaired my old rocking chair also pointedly remarked on this unusual characteristic of our household; apparently he sees a lot of garages crammed to the rafters with everything but the family car. I guess it would have been easier to let some of the moving boxes stay packed and stacked out there, but both Himself and I utterly loathe scraping ice off the car, especially in the early morning when one is in a hurry to get somewhere.

Charmion! "When your house is finished, you die!" It will take a great deal of patient Dealing to keep R from filling however large a house we purchase from filling with stuff! I will NOT live with clutter. I am making it clear.

In de-cluttering our lives of this odious house, I have spent about 4 hours on web, looking for possibilities! This will be a long process - but Chamion can also relate to that! Clearly, the dear little house is not going to make it! But I continue to seek something close to the nature preserves, and to the city for R.

And big enough for STUFF! I peeked into the room that was once screwed shut and ... Gulp! Full of stuff!! Daunting!

R took delight today in observing that he no longer needs to deal with the burgeoning Manitoba Maple!!!! But he spent time putting a hole in the wall to install a large TV????! One more chance to remove a pile of dreadful towels from the LR and, I have told him, they are going out on the sidewalk for whoever needs them - rags! (we have enough!)

Still not apprised of when family is arriving! But the pottery is ready!!! Super YAY!

Tyler is such a gift. The free workday he offered to support my going in return for my support around his sudden move-in-- kewl Adding his younger brother ALSO-- free-- PRICELESS! Because until he got a full time job, Caleb worked for me and for last housemate-- knows the house and the cleaning info!

I've had a couple of periods of time when things that came out of storage were placed in the garage and there was no room for a vehicle, but I decided when I bought this place to stop using remote storage and to use my garage for my vehicle. I did put in joists when we built the garage so there is robust storage in the attic of the garage, or support if I push it up to a second story studio, etc.

My ex has finally gotten to where he can park his car in his garage, and I encourage him to call me when he needs help moving some bulky object out (especially to donate to the Goodwill rather than the trash).

There are occasional break-ins around the village when cars are left on the street, and I had someone come into the back yard years ago before I put up a gate and steal a wet saw. Having the yard nominally blocked (if someone really wants they can get in, but with a lot of noise and fuss) and the vehicle in the garage means people can't really tell if I'm home or not, and the house and SUV are safer. It isn't like having a castle with a moat, but it's the same principle.

I seem to have hit the sweet spot price-wise on eBay; in the categories where I'm listing the sellers offer a flat price and free shipping; I have calculated the shipping and offer the item a few dollars lower but they pay for shipping. In the end there is only a couple of dollars savings to the buyers, but it seems to work. My listings are just enough lower that I get the sale.

Spring break is coming soon and my yard is going to get some much-needed attention. I finished a series of big projects this week so feel able to take time free of compromising any deadlines.

A local broadcast channel plays old episodes of some of the Canadian design programs from the mid-2000's; I saw them new on cable but now they're old repeats on TV. I am getting a couple of ideas that are relatively timeless, in particular the replacement of a solid bathroom door with a French door with translucent glass to let more light into the dressing room. This would be wonderful.

For now I'll concentrate on selling off the items in boxes in my sunroom, and perhaps sooner rather than later they'll add up to the price of a new French door.

I wrote a substantial post about cars yesterday, but the Cat crashed and it vanished. C'est la vie.

Although I lived in downest downtown Ottawa for so long that putting away and locking up any and all useful things became second nature, my car was burgled twice, once in a shopping centre parking lot (bag of maps stolen) and once when parked overnight on the driveway in front of the house (radio stolen). It never ceased to amaze me that a burglar would go for an ancient VW Diesel, that most unstealable of cars, and surely nothing of value would be found in a 16-year-old car, but there you go.

When Himself was finally able to tear himself loose from his last court-martial client and come to Stratford to see the house I had bought, we found the seller in a state of agitation awaiting the cops, whom she had called because she found her car broken open and minus a tool kit anmd a substantial stash of parking change. The car, of course, was normally parked on the driveway in front of the garage door. Clearly, our leafy corner of idyllic Stratford shares at least one threat with grungy old Ottawa: opportunistic burglars. The very first thing I did on taking possession was to call a locksmith.

Cars: At Beaver, I never lock the car. In Montreal, I always do; if I forget, something is gone, for sure! At the mill, no locking; no one nearby; also large barking do in front part of building - well contained but LOUD! Same with buildings. Beaver is never locked. Mill only when we are leaving for city.

De-cluttered R's head of several inches of hair! He looks less like Einstein! weeks overdue.

Being away for 7 weeks was TOO much! Getting our mutual lives back on track has been worse than clutter. I recognize this must change; clutters my life to de-clutter his? Well, I'm retired.

Looking at two houses tomorrow. Looking forward to this next step. I spent a couple half days, looking at the neighbourhood and learning the area. Also managed to fire all pots. Son's are completed. And a few more. De-cluttered bill paying by picking up a goodly sum from the consignment shop for the pots she sold. She needs more pots so I need to see about energy to drive to mill and throw and trim. Son not coming before Weds! I thought I would be back to Beaver by Sunday! Oh well! Need to call someone to water the plants! Henceforth I shall have to stick to outdoor plants for there.

There are times when I've forgotten to lock a door or close the garage door, and when nothing happened I considered myself lucky and vowed never to do that again. I think we don't communicate well amongst ourselves as neighbors to compare notes on criminal activity, and I find the online "Nextdoor" site offputting. I can look in if I wish, but I've turned off their email function because there are too many racist and bigotted reports that come through that moderators should be blocking.

This year I took my string trimmer into the shop early enough that he wasn't loaded down with mowers and other trimmers to fix yet and only a week later it was ready. As it happened he didn't need to replace the rope (the handle broke and it rolled into the housing). He showed me the washer that he put in the new plastic handle before he tied the knot - he said that the washer is enough to keep the rope from fully contracting into the machine again if the handle breaks. I'll do that trick on a couple of other devices to save possible later repairs. It was $29 well-spent—trying to do that job myself would have taken ages.

On my way home I stopped at the gas station and noticed a couple of 25 gallon black plastic nursery pots that had blown up against a barbed wire fence with other trash. They join my collection of pots beside the house where I'm experimenting with planting crops in pots.

My next little audiobook listening station is set up in my office; I have a bluetooth setup and have my audiobooks in my phone. I can listen to it while I work. The book is on the computer because I ripped it from a CD to the mp3 files I'm listening to now, but this little phone app (Voice) knows where I stopped listening and does a much better job than my former player (a Sony Walkman - I had to manually tell it to go to the next folder in each book). The player is a thrift store find that fits nicely in the desk corner next to my monitor.

The top task this weekend is to tackle the yard since the weeds have bolted into a tangle of tall greenery.

Spring Break for many in the US school system, and ♫ I've got a little list. ♫ (Someone should have told Mr. Gilbert that the correct grammar is "I have a little list," but whatever).♪ ♪

My jeans that are so worn they are designated to yard work are soon to go in the laundry so I'll putter around the house until they're ready, but this weekend is the Big Push into the yard. And the garage. I may never have enough room for two cars, but I still have plenty of things I can dislodge from the space.

The drive back was pretty awful due to lack of sleep plus poor weather plus an early AM DV.

House here.... the main floor is full of furniture in my way that needs to go out to porch for pre-loading, but that awaits a warm day to prep the porch. ....

Packing brain still spinning. About all I can do right off is purge, and start filling trash bags and Goodwill boxes. If we have time together we can sort thru the next round of the book purge-- the ones we have to go thru together. None of these are calling me to get going.... yet... Still in drive recovery and unpacking car bags.

An Equinox bearing is shot, again. :-(

On the plus side, Black Panther is playing in Wellsboro and we're going tmrw night.

This has nothing to do with decluttering but I'm going to share it anyway...today we celebrated Jeremiah's 8th birthday!!! We had a birthday party for him at the bowling alley, complete with arcade games, pizza and cake. He invited several friends and a grand time was had by all!!!

:) What a wonderful day!

It's more quilting/piecing for me tomorrow.....can't wait for that project to be wrapped up!

"since the weeds have bolted into a tangle of tall greenery." !!! I am looking forward to seeing something like this in the next few weeks!

And Wow! Jeremiah is 8 already! ---geez, I think my great granddaughter is almost that old!

Just spent an hour or so on the phone with tech support re internet connectivity. He was very nice but nothing monumental was accomplished except that I have to try harder to use less mb!

Pottery is ready for pick up. Family may be here on Weds - I hope! Had to email a neighbour to Please water plants left in Bathroom. This is the last time I leave indoor plants; I hate losing them.

House search is probably complete. R "fell in love with" the 6 BR brick house as soon as he walked in the door and saw the beautiful wood staircase, circa 1915, more or less. Wonderful house with room for everything we want - all R's age appropriate furniture, studio in finished basement with outside entrance, airbnb potential in beautiful two room and bath addition with sep entrance, room for gardening, old garage for storage, old side of basement for wood working area and woods behind. Ten minutes to nature preserve, about 30 to office, river down the hill about 100 yards, public boat ramp if one is in to boating. This is a house to be treated with great respect - all the beautiful wood is intact, marvellous pantry, decent K but not the original one- I'll bet the old cabinetry was amazing. Rooms are large and lovely. We are both excited. ( you can google 17 Dupont Ouest, Chateauguay, QC)

Hardly know what to do with myself now that the search is, hop efully, complete.

Hot water heater quit so R has a project - working on it now. Will really need that hot water when he comes back out of the cellar!

Will try to go out to mill tomorrow to throw some pots. Will take some things there to start clearing this house. I bought a pretty set of dishes at the eco-centre yesterday - for the new house! And R has not even put a deposit yet!

Nice looking house, Dorothy, and it sounds like all hobbies will be addressed.

Today was cooler than I expected after an 80o high yesterday, but it will warm up more during the week, so I spent today cleaning my office - one of those tasks that takes you all over the house putting various small items away after they were carried into the office and left in various nooks and crannies. It also involves pulling together all of the pens, pencils, markers, and various implements that accumulate in offices and putting them into centralized cups and boxes. The shelves need dusting big-time.

Beautiful house, Dorothy. Noting the electric baseboard heaters, I would ask pointed questions about energy costs if I were you, and take a hard look at the windows (have they been updated?) and the weatherstripping on outside doors -- since moving to this house, I'm relearning everything I had forgotten about drafts.

I have a date with Patrick the Painter, who returns next week, on Himself's birthday, to deal with the grey walls and damaged plaster in the guest room. The timing is good; I can get the curtains up and hang some pictures in there before The Brother & wife arrive for Easter. That leaves only the spaces with too many bookcases: our bedroom (which also involves an enormous and very overstuffed closet), the study (six full-sized bookcases and a filing cabinet), and the basement (eight bookcases and a full wall of storage shelving). Unfortunately, the bedroom and the basement also feature quite disastrous colour choices by our predecessors: baby-shit brown in the basement, and aubergine purple in the bedroom. The study is quite tolerable, by contrast -- probably because the walls are almost completely covered with bookcases.

Last week, I started on a massive editing project for Army Headquarters. It's a three-volume book on Canadian operations in Afghanistan, a project that has been badly handled over the last six years and is now seriously overdue. I hate it when a book is already in layout when somebody with signing authority finally notices that the editing sucks and decides to get it fixed. I have done this before, and it always means hot breath down my neck as I trudge through a massive hard-copy edit, followed by many rounds of proofreading as the layout people input only about 80 percent of the marked changes. I still don't have a contract in hand, as the poor, suffering staff officers in Ottawa wrestle with the civil service administration -- as close to wrestling with a pig in mud as you can get without actually rolling in mud. The Canadian federal government has a continuing crisis with its civil service pay system (google Phoenix and Canada, and see if you can figure out why they're not up to their necks in class-action lawsuits), so I kinda wonder when and if I'll get paid.

Charmion, that is the kind of editing project to drive one round the bend. If the editors insist the copyediting is complete when a task is handed to me there are usually a few corrections to be made (I can do those) but after it is designed the only change should be typos, not content. At least InDesign has a good find/replace feature.

The house (https://www.centris.ca/en/houses~for-sale~chateauguay/10733476) is spacious, but I agree with Charmion, ask about those windows and the electric. That's a nice big basement for shop activities. The creeping decor changes from over the decades will have to be treated as part of the charm of the place. :)

My attention shifts to outdoor work today and I foresee several trips to Home Depot. The alternative is to drag the kids' wagon over to the bridge and drag buckets of creek pebbles up to the house as part of this project, but the pebbles aren't uniformly small so they're harder to work with than store-bought pea gravel.

Energy costs: $4000/year. Comparable to current house. Door drafts can be dealt with. I am looking at keeping heat costs down - close off rooms not in use, if possible. R has considerable experience with all manner of buildings. First major will be new shingles but we are assured roof does not leak - yet! Windows would, obviously, be frightfully expensive but maybe someday. The fireplace is open and, of course, a heat escape which can be managed. We could not find the damper; will look again. I reached up inside but felt nothing in the way of a lever. The owner may be able to help. He is a surveyor and may well have some ideas to share.

I would be concerned about 9 foot ceilings; R loves them. Need a bathtub in main house but see way to do that efficiently, adjacent to powder room on 2nd floor.

Doing airbnb will help with expenses and I enjoyed it the last time I could do it. A good garden will be a big plus. Might even share pottery studio with a couple others. But R is not concerned.

R points out: airbnb will be helped by being adjacent to Mohawk reserve, to Ile St. Bernard refuge, boat ramp down on the river, and 20 min to Montreal. And I only have to do it when I feel like it.

I am looking forward to the de-clutter of: having room for things, an amazing pantry in hall between K and big DR, having a guaranteed place to park, room for company for supper, for overnight, maybe even for house concerts, picnics in the back yard, the "real life" that has been missing from this derelict house. And visits to the wonderful nature preserves, walks in the woods, meeting new people in the area...

Of course, today R is working on re-storing hot water! So, I am hanging in to provide food at intervals and encouragement as needed. There is quite a pile of dirty dishes so far! There is very little around a house that R cannot do himself and he loves doing those sorts of things. Thankfully, he would not try to roof this house himself!

Once again, or as usual, my life has the "Arkansas Hard Luck Blues" feeling of: "And the only reason I'm hanging around is to find out what the heck is going to happen next." Starting over once again and thankful that Beaver is there to actually live in, in the meantime. And, once again, had to ask neighbour to stop in and water plants. Next trip, I will bring them here so I don't have to ask again.

That editing job sounds horrific! will be thinking uplifting thoughts for you, Charmion.

Today I started the task of re-arranging the defacto pavers left over from the sewer line work last fall. I've brought the soil to a level I want with a mix of old rocks, brick fragments, and soil then put down a layer of landscaping cloth, topped with sand to level each paver as I position it. Looks like a 50lb bag of sand might work to level about three pavers, and I have a dozen at least to move. Then the pea gravel goes in between the pavers to level it. The whole thing is going to slope away from the porch for obvious reasons, but will be level enough to hold a few potted plants. This work is okay for me, I can move the concrete blocks end over end on the ground, but I will have the lot loader at Lowe's help move the sand into the SUV (when I get home I'll roll it out of the SUV into the wheelbarrow). One trip today with several stops and back to the yard work.

This week is bulky waste pickup in my neighborhood (once a quarter); I put some stuff down at the curb for regular trash this morning but now I'll see if I can't bag up more stuff that is gathering dust and mud dauber nests. I pulled a bunch of flimsy nursery pots and plastic trays out of the greenhouse so far and got rid of an ancient tarp that may have had sentimental attachment but was one of those old coated nylon ones that smells like vomit once it gets to a certain age, and that never goes away. I feel a tug at my former camper's heartstrings for it, but my kids won't want it and I won't be using it for anything. The Goodwill would toss it. Counting back, that tarp was about 45 years old.

Other things that need moving in the yard - I had some sticks cut to short lengths in case I got a small fire pit built that I liked, but that didn't work so the sticks got tossed over the back fence to rot in the woods. I have to take the wheelbarrow and some heavy-duty kitchen tongs out to pick up the broken-off pads from my prickly pear down at the bottom of the driveway and toss them into the back also. I don't want more cactus by the street but don't mind if they want to sprout and hold down the soil by the creek.

I've moved enough of the randomly distributed chunks of concrete so I can safely push a mower through the tall grass and weeds in the front yard. Tomorrow, I think. I have a couple of more hours of daylight in which to move and tamp in more stones and then shift gears to take the dogs for a walk.

My closet doesn't have an echo, but there's a lot less stuff in there now. I pulled out a 30-gallon plastic bin of long pants and shorts that are way too small and put most of the slacks in a lot on eBay. I have a pair of Levis to sell individually and some shorts to put in smaller lots. I also pulled down the bin the next size up to list. Finally, there was a last 30-gallon bin full of cotton summer tops that are dated, too small, and will probably be donated to Goodwill and labeled to be put in the rag bin.

I have sweaters in a basket that I forget about because it's tucked into the knee-hole under my dressing room counter, so I'll put the ones I might still wear into one of the now empty bins for next winter. I use a plastic sweater organizer that hangs from a rod in the closet for my best sweaters, and there are some that need to be culled. The goal is to have everything on the rod be something I can wear. Things I'm not quite into yet will go into the last bin and back up on the shelf. I'll see if any of them fit during the summer, or sooner if my current pants get too loose (who doesn't dream of that?) ;-)

Mucking about in the Windows 10 computer since an automatic update went sideways. I had to refresh the C: drive and discovered that my favorite anti-malware program Malwarebytes had somehow been uninstalled (it's one I pay for, all the more reason to keep it).

I finally tackled the over-the-stove hood that was making funny noises when running on low. I think it was a buildup of grease that was making it off balance; careful application of a hot soapy cloth in each louver of the fan cleared it up. Not a fun job.

So, after all that mad dash to get pots made and son's trip being put off a few days ---and greatly anticipated----- it did not happen. Yesterday was dark blue as I sat here and processed and recovered - what else can one do! The weather.... He has promised to visit in June. but just he and wife, not GD from San Diego... Meanwhile, the pottery will sit here waiting.

R got the water back on track, the dishes are washed, I am going back to Beaver on Sunday by way of a friend's open mike in Kingston Sunday aft. R is working on the logistics of purchasing THE house. I am looking at trying to get every non-essential out of this house to the mill over the next few months. Having loaded stuff into the car for next trip to the mill, I realized the pile of snow that prevented me from getting close last week is still there. I may end up taking some extraneous stuff to Beaver rather than carry it an extra 100 yards across the snow. Another -Oh, Well.

Having agreed to spend less time at Beaver and more time here, I shall need to bring the portable wheel and some clay next trip and set up to work upstairs - lest I lose my mind - with nothing to do except prepare meals. Yesterday, I considered "shopping" - for what?? where??? just for something to do? I would go to a toxic mall and look at all the stuff - of which I want nothing? So I read a book and watched a little TV and wished I could vacuum - but that would fill the house with dust and I would have to leave - go where? shopping??....

The sound quality of the new TV seems to make it possible for me to understand the verbal rather than have to read the CC - mostly! The picture being clearer has me amazed by the way the persons look! The newscasters look older!

R actually seems to need me here; I need to prevent total chaos in house and frig! The greatest "de-cluttering mode is prevention! I will come back in a couple weeks with pottery wheel, and hope.

Mary, the computer knew the account was active once I downloaded the newest Malwarebytes version, but that disappearance is disconcerting.

A large black bag of crumbling nursery trays and pots is at the curb for regular trash; I never managed to generate enough bulky stuff to put out for the large-scale pickup that can happen any day this week in my part of the village. I did clear out files and the resulting six-inch stack of papers with account numbers would have taken ages to shred and another bag to fill but I bought a 20-gallon burning barrel to put that stack of documents in on end and propped up with a couple bricks. They burned for several hours and I prodded them to keep from smoking. The barrel will live under a shelf in my greenhouse, it isn't super sturdy and would probably rust if left outdoors, but for burning documents a couple of times a year it is perfect.

A week of spring break has contributed to the clearance of a number of parts of the house, but I usually leave the radio on in the kitchen and it has been depressing to listen to so much political news. I've switched over to the classical station for a while. (Keeping a radio on to a station with conversations all day long is one of those home-security tips - someone considering breaking in will hear voices and think twice.)

Dorothy, good luck with all of that house juggling. It sounds interesting despite the amount of labor involved. I spoke with a neighbor yesterday about our gardens - we use the same handyman for some of our heavy lifting and outdoor tasks, and as late as gardens are going in this year (so much rain made the soil unworkable) that handyman is probably going to be very busy visiting neighbors to till garden spots.

Brought down fabric for Goodwill and cushions for chair. Then 1/2 hour at hard labor undoing :-( chaos, with one stair climb :-) . Net = 2 trash bags, not 1, for Goodwill; night chair I can sit in upstrs; streaming-movies platform to use upstrs now or dnstrs later when dnstrs chaos gone; fabric for spare swimsuit found; fabric for tying mattresses found; fabric and pattern for shorts found.

Since I am allergic to coconut (read "Sodium Laurelth Sulfate" on most shampoos, soaps, even in lotions and toothpaste), I use Old World soaps made with olive oil or shay butter. This includes using them to wash my hair, and I alternate every few hair washes with a shampoo that is sulfate free (and seems to push coconut lower down on the ingredient list). "Kiss my face" is a nice lavender-scented olive oil soap. It isn't inexpensive, but it seems to fall in the category of "hard milled" and each bar is large and lasts for a very long time.

Still in holding pattern due to wanting to get to open mike on Sunday: it is 3 hours from Montreal and just about 2.5 from there to Beaver. I have been wanting to get to one of Kevin's events for over a year so this is it! I can be home by about 9 pm, being very careful on the last 60 miles, watching for deer. Hitting one would create a dreadful clutter!

R is trying to connect with real estate agent. Business keeps intervening. This aft, a realtor is producing a video (having it produced) to sell one of the business properties; R has a role as a geologist (which he is!) in this endeavour to sell an extremely historic piece of property. This darn business does clutter up his life!

Having discovered a stash of clay here, I plan to do a few hand built pieces today and moisten a bag of forgotten for too long clay for future use.

Latest snow is being cleared - not a big deal but it has frozen. Seriously cold the next few days. It will be challenging getting the house warm - thankful for electric heaters and heating pad! And the wonderful wood stove.

I lowered the middle row of seats in the SUV to transport some very large flat cardboard shipping containers (from a desk) to the recycle bins at City Hall. Those bins are emptied on Tuesdays and with spring cleaning weather here now I knew I'd better get this over before the weekend crowd fills them again. When the kids were small large pieces of cardboard might have been put to use building forts or doing art projects. Now I don't need to hold onto that in case someone needs it.

Also dropped a few items at Goodwill because I was going to be in the neighborhood. There will be another dropping off/shopping/delivery run this weekend as I help my ex transport two new toilets to his house because they won't fit in his little Toyota. One thing I don't envy about the house hunting and interesting remodeling that Dorothy is doing is all of the driving that is involved. I enjoy driving but I also enjoy not frequently filling up the tank.

In for a cool-down after coming close to finishing the leveling job on the north side of the front yard (where the new sewer line meets the street). The soil has settled into the trench mark and soil that was still piled on top of the former lawn level was scooped up and dropped into the dip and packed down. Mulch over the top. I moved bags of leaves that were sitting there to distract the eye from noticing the depression (they'll be mulched into my garden plot soon). There will be more fine-tuning as it continues to settle and adjustments to a spot near the front path where I'm going to put one of the broken concrete pavers and place a potted plant.

Moving rocks is a slow and steady job, and now I'm finishing removing the lowest level of what I call a "wing wall," an extension from the house that was popular in the 1970s. Placed on each side of the house, they had a light coming out of the small column at the end of it. I took down one wall years ago but this one languished. Now it's coming out and the debris of the crumbling mortar that held it together is being used to level the flagstone area in front of my porch. I had to get the wheelbarrow out for this so I figured I'd do the leveling on the other side of the yard as a break from rock moving and because it looks like I actually finished something. :)

I spent a little over 10 hours working on the Survivor's Quilt today. It currently is a queen size but I still have maybe 6 more rows worth of fabric with signatures on it which I will finish up tomorrow. The rest of the quilt is in ONE (finally) piece. I still have to cut the fabric and add two sets of borders. I chose teal and purple for the borders.....teal for ovarian cancer (my mark on the quilt) and a wider outer border of deep purple for survivorship. There are 16 rows, each row has 52 pieces of fabric.....that comes out to 832 pieces of fabric that have been cut, ironed, sewed, ironed some more and sewed more. Whew. I love the finished project and the intention with which it was made but I will NOT be doing another one.

It will be hand delivered to the House of Care next week when I head down that way for an appointment.